JPH06155341A - Mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a mobile robot capable of operation of a whole plant without stopping the robot even if an operator enters the work area of the mobile robot for rise of equipment, maintenance and inspection, etc., when the mobile robot is used for transportation and handling of parts in a work plant, etc. CONSTITUTION:A channel-shaped cover 13 is provided on a travel device 11 of a mobile robot comprising a robot arm 12 and a travel device 11, and the operating area of the robot arm 12 is limited so that it does not touch the cover 13. Also a spin-turn function is added to the travel device 11 in addition to a forward travel function and transverse travel function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile robot represented by an automated guided vehicle equipped with a robot arm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When introducing a robot or an automated guided vehicle to a manufacturing site of a factory, it is important to take safety protection measures to prevent contact with workers and people around them. Industrial robots), general safety rules for industrial robots (JIS B 8433), safety standards for automated guided vehicles (JIS D 6802), etc. These are robots and unmanned guided vehicles alone, and mobile robots in which robots and unmanned guided vehicles are combined are excluded from the above rules, and there is nothing specially specified yet.

In recent years, it has become popular to use a mobile robot in which a robot and an automatic guided vehicle are combined with each other at a manufacturing site of a factory. Conventionally, the safety of the industrial robot and the automatic guided vehicle, respectively, has been increased. I tried to take safety measures according to the rules. That is, an enclosure is provided over the entire operating area of the mobile robot so that workers cannot enter the enclosure.

[0004]

Consider, for example, a parts processing factory as shown in FIG. In this factory, a parts storage device 2 for storing materials that need to be processed is installed near the entrance / exit of the site, and a processing device 3 for performing various processes on the parts.
4, 5 and 6 are installed on both sides of the work passage 9,
The mobile robot 1 moves through the work passage 9 and moves to the parts storage device 2
The parts are transferred between the processing devices 3 to 6. That is, a preset travel route (abcd-de-
It moves along f) and carries and handles parts from the parts storage device to the processing device or from the processing device to the parts storage device.

At this site, for example, a worker enters the working area of the mobile robot, that is, the work passage 9 at the time of start-up for introducing and operating a new processing device 5 or at the time of maintenance and inspection of the device, and the corresponding work is performed. Need to do.
Conventionally, in this case, the mobile robot must be stopped before entering the work passage. Also, the working passage 9
An enclosure 7 and a door 8 with an interlock were provided at the entrance and exit provided in the enclosure so that the mobile robot could stop immediately if it was accidentally opened.

That is, when a worker enters the operation area of the robot at the time of start-up or maintenance / inspection work, it is assumed that the mobile robot 1 which is in charge of transporting parts of the entire site is stopped and then the worker enters the work passage. I was there. As a result, even in a device other than the manufacturing device that requires start-up and maintenance / inspection work, the mobile robot 1 for transferring the component is stopped, so that the function of supplying and taking out the component is stopped, and the normal production is performed. I wanted to maintain the product, but there was a problem that I could not produce it.

[0007]

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in order to prevent the operating state of the robot from being stopped even when a worker performs work such as maintenance and inspection, the traveling device of the mobile robot 4 The operating area of the robot arm is limited by providing an opening in only one of the surfaces, that is, a U-shaped enclosure on the traveling device of the mobile robot.

[0008]

As a result, even if a worker is in the vicinity of the robot arm while it is in operation and performs maintenance and inspection work, by providing the mobile robot with the above-mentioned U-shaped enclosure, It is possible to prevent contact with the arm.

Therefore, even if the worker enters the work passage for performing the maintenance and inspection work, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the mobile robot, and the device which does not require the maintenance and inspection work can be normally produced. become.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a mobile robot equipped with a safety protection enclosure according to the present invention.
3 is a plan view showing a layout of a parts processing factory using this mobile robot. In FIG. 1, the mobile robot 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a traveling device 11 and a robot arm 12, and a U-shaped enclosure 13 is fixed to the upper surface of the traveling device 11. In FIG. 2, the mobile robot 10 moves along the work path 90 to move the parts storage device 20 and the processing device (30 to 30).
The layout is such that the work of transporting the parts to and from 33) and the work of handling the parts in the parts storage device 20 and the processing devices (30 to 33) are performed.

Since the mobile robot 10 handles parts in the parts storage device 20 and the processing devices (30 to 33), it is necessary to direct the opening portion of the U-shaped enclosure 13 to each device. Therefore, the mobile robot 10 is provided with a spin turn function (a function of rotating 180 degrees on the spot) so that the devices on both sides of the work path can be worked. Further, the robot arm is provided with a soft, electrical or mechanical operation area limiting means so that the equipped enclosure 13 and the robot arm 12 do not come into contact with each other during operation. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the limiting means includes a detection target 52 coupled to the outer circumference of a robot's turning shaft 51, and sensors (E1, E2 at which proximity sensors 53, 54 are located around the detection target 52). , M1 and M2 are provided with stoppers 55 and 56), and S1 and S2 are detected by a rotation detector connected to the drive motor of the swing shaft 51. It is configured. Therefore, normally, R between S1 and S2 is managed and controlled by the controller of the robot as an operation area. If the robot is operating within this operating region R, the robot will not come into contact with the enclosure 13. Also,
E1, E2 and M1, M2 are commonly used safety devices in case S1 and S2 do not operate for some reason. Further, the enclosure 13 is made of aluminum pipe and has sufficient mechanical strength to withstand contact with the robot arm.

The operation of the mobile robot having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. The mobile robot 10 moves in advance in the work path 90 (A-B-C-D-D-F-G-H).
-I-J-K).
First, in order to handle the components in the component storage device 20, work is performed with the opening of the enclosure 13 facing upward as shown in FIG. Here, for example, when a work command to supply the parts to the processing device 33 is received, the mobile robot 10 travels straight along the moving route ABCD, and a predetermined spin turn point K (spin turns). Also traverse to a position where point J does not interfere with the surrounding devices and point J is the same)
After performing a spin turn and reversing the direction to change the direction of the opening of the enclosure 13 to the downward direction as shown in FIG. 3, the target processing device 33 is traversed and a predetermined handling work is performed.

Here, for example, when a work request such as maintenance and inspection is made to the processing device 31, a worker comes in near the point E to perform a predetermined work. At this time, the mobile robot 10 is equipped with a U-shaped enclosure 13 as shown in FIG. 3, so that contact between the robot and an operator can be prevented. Therefore, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the mobile robot even if a worker or the like performs work such as maintenance and inspection near the robot, and it is possible to secure the transfer and handling of parts to other devices that do not require maintenance and inspection. Production can be continued on site.

In this embodiment, as described above, the safety protection enclosure is U-shaped, fixed on the traveling device of the mobile robot, and the mobile robot spins in addition to the straight traveling function and the transverse traveling function. It has a turn function,
By providing the enclosure with the rotation mechanism, the functions that the mobile robot should have may be limited to the straight traveling function and the transverse traveling function. Although aluminum pipes were used in the present embodiment as the material of the enclosure, plastic material or fibers may be used to form the mesh-like enclosure if desired mechanical strength can be secured.

[0016]

As described above, when the mobile robot is used for parts transfer / handling work in a processing factory or the like, the mobile robot including the robot arm and the traveling device is provided with a U-shaped enclosure, By limiting the operating area of the robot and providing the traveling device with the spin-turn function in addition to the straight-ahead traveling function and the transverse traveling function, even if the worker enters the area where the mobile robot is operating, It is possible to continue the production without stopping the operation of equipment other than those required for maintenance and inspection. Therefore, there is an effect that it can contribute to the improvement of production efficiency in the entire factory.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a factory layout diagram illustrating a method of using the mobile robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a factory layout diagram illustrating a method of using the mobile robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a factory layout diagram illustrating a method of using a conventional mobile robot.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation area limiting unit of a robot arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Mobile robot, 11 ... Traveling device, 12 ... Robot arm, 13 ... Enclosure.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Yamada 5-20-1 Kamimizuhonmachi, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo Stock company Hitachi Ltd. Musashi factory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mobile robot comprising a traveling mechanism for placing and transporting a work and a robot arm mechanism for handling the work, wherein one of four surfaces of the traveling device is provided to prevent contact between the robot arm and the outside. A mobile robot characterized in that an operating area of a robot arm is limited by fixing an enclosure having an opening only on a traveling device. 2. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure is movable with respect to the traveling device, and the opening of the enclosure can be set at an arbitrary position.